MAVneT A Secure MAV Networking Philosophy

M.V. Sri Nagesh, Ranjan Mojumdar, D. Vinay Kumar, Abhinav Saxena, T.V.V Manikanta

SLRDC, HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS LIMITED
Hyderabad, INDIA

mvsrinagesh@gmail.com, ranjanmoy@yahoo.com, vinay36999@gmail.com,
abhisaxena21@gmail.com, tvvmanikanta@gmail.com


AbstractThe increasing deployment of MAVs for various
tasks have created enormous opportunities to explore new areas
of their utility. One way of improving the utility of MAVs is to
network-over-the-air to increase the data/video transmission over
multiple hops to extend the range of operation through efficient
network routing protocols. There are number of routing
protocols available and they are categorized as reactive,
proactive and hybrid. Deployment of MAVs by armed forces at
territorial border areas has increased over the years. To
safeguard the data/video transmissions require secure
communication with the ground control stations. A single MAV
to ground control station has a limited LOS range.
MAVnet is based on Mobile Ad-hoc networking philosophy.
The implementation utilizes the Dynamic TDMA architecture
with Master-less topology. MAVnet dramatically increases the
transmission/reception ranges by way of efficient networking and
providing secure transmission features. TRANSEC,
TRANsmission SECurity is achieved through frequency hopping
over a band either in L-Band or S-Band. COMSEC, COM
munication SECurity, can give message security through message
encryption.
MAVnet has the capability for sending messages through
Unicast, Multicast and Broadcast mechanisms. Also, MAVnet is
an intelligent self organized network topology in which the
members present are known to each other and operates on
neighbourhood tables. The routing protocol of MAVneT utilizes
a hybrid structure where the best of reactive and proactive
methods give the advantage for efficient MAV networking.
I ndex TermsMAVneT, NCO, SDR, Waveform, DyTDMA,
TRANSEC, COMSEC Routing, Hop, Frequency Hopping,
I. INTRODUCTION
A micro air vehicle (MAV), or micro aerial vehicle, is a
class of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that has a size
restriction and may be autonomous. Modern craft can be as
small as little finger of the hand.

Due to the increased usage of UAVs for military
applications at territorial border areas, it is essential that a
highly secure and networked approach be employed for
effective dissemination of data collected through surveillance
activity.

MAVneT is a concept extended to MAV networking with
our experience gained in the Network Centric Operations
(NCO) of Military aircraft using Software Defined Radio
(SDR) wherein any application ported into the SDR is
considered to be part of Waveform. A Waveform is defined as
the associated components such as the modulation type, the
data rate, channel coding, secure features and other
associations.

MAVneT will facilitate such approach through robust
networking concepts and routing methodologies handling high
data rates and efficient modulation techniques over Frequency
Hopping (FH) in the designated Frequency band of operation,
thus giving the user a secure networked data exchange and
extension of operational ranges.

The proposed MAVneT is essentially a Dynamic Time
Division Multiple Access (DyTDMA) protocol and is a part of
waveform application essential for network centric operations.
Purpose of DyTDMA is to establish communication link
within a network formed by airborne platforms and ground
stations. The link can be used for both Telemetry data and
Video transfer with multiplexing within the data slots allocated
to each member of MAVneT.
II. DYNAMIC TDMA CONCEPT
Dynamic TDMA is a distributed TDMA scheme in which
there is no nodal control parameter present and as required in
conventional TDMA to control the network. In DyTDMA s
communication is possible on time sharing basis. This time slot
assignment to the participating MAV in this case will not be
fixed rather slot assignment will change according to the
number of MAVs using that channel and also on individual
requirement of each MAV. In this technology multiple slots
will be assigned to each MAV so that optimum utilization of
channel bandwidth will take place. Un-utilized slots by any
MAV will be identified by the neighboring nodes and will be
reused and distributed to other MAVs.
The main features of DyTDMA Adhoc networking are:
*Flexible configuration with Adaptive Bandwidth
Allocation & Ah-hoc networking Protocos with
Dynamic member association
*Broadcast, Unicast & Multicast capabilities with
Air-to-air and Air-Ground relay capability
*Guaranteed delivery of message, text and images
*Network algorithms with built in QoS provision
*Provision for 40 memberships in a single network
III. DYTDMA MAVNET PROTOCOL
The well known fact is that to establish a network a
minimum of two members are required.

Since MAVneT is operating on FH channels, all members
in the network should be operating synchronously in time and
frequency domains.

Any member of the MAVneT is required to first
synchronize in frequency as per the FH sequences used in a
particular network. Once the new member is synchronous with
respect to operating FH sequence, then time synchronization is
essential for participating the DyTDMA data transfers.

To start a network and participate in the same as a member,
three cases have been identified:

i. No network exists but a single member is waiting.
ii. No Network exists but two members are waiting.
iii. Network is formed but a new member wants to
join.

The above cases are depicted below with required activity
to be carried out to become a member of the MAVneT and
start exchanging the data within the network.














































New Node
(start)
Tune to sync
frequency
Wait for sync
packet for 2 sec
Receive
s probe
message
case III
Nothing
received
case I

Receives
N/W
packet
case II
Case I:
Nothing received
Transmits probe message
Receives
Probe
Message
Receives
acknowled
gement
Receives
n/w
packet
Case II:
Receives n/w
packet
Decode packet and
synchronize accordingly
Sends request
Distribute slots for
self
Starts communication
from next frame
Case III:

Receives probe message
Decode message and
synchronize accordingly
Transmits
Acknowledgement
Start communication
From next frame
IV.DYTDMA IMPLEMENTATION OVER RF LINK
DyTDMA algorithm is implemented between 4 computers
via RF using TRF 2.4G transceiver. The control of the RF
module is achieved through serial interface provided on the
module and a separate CPLD based interface converter board is
used to convert the Ethernet control data to serial format.

TRW-2.4G Module* is an easy to use radio transceiver for
the world wide 2.4 - 2.5 GHz ISM band. The transceiver
consists of a patch antenna, a fully integrated frequency
synthesizer, a power amplifier, a crystal oscillator and a
modulator.

By increasing the radiated power of the transceiver better
communication range can be obtained. It is possible to achieve
receiver sensitivities of more than -115dB. This can be
achieved through using multi-functional chip sets available
from various device manufacturers. Hence with a RF
transmitting power of 2Watts and MAVneT, better
communication ranges can be obtained.








*TRW-2.4G Transceiver is a product of Wenshing Electronics
Co. Ltd., Taiwan

Frequency Hopping is made possible in TRF2.4G module
as there are 125 frequency channels available with 200uSec
settling time.
The other feature of this module is the mode in which data
rates upto 1MBPS can be used. This feature is utilized by
connecting Ethernet port data to the serial interface of this
module.
V. MAVNET ROUTING PROTOCOL
There are number of routing protocols available and they
are categorized as reactive, proactive and hybrid. Hybrid
Routing protocol has been used in DyTDMA algorithm
implementation where the best of reactive and proactive
methods give the advantage for efficient MAV networking.
Here routing is initially established with some proactively
prospected routes and then serves demand from additionally
activated nodes through reactive routing. Less Link failures,
Less flooding, less latency and less additional control traffic
are some of the advantages related to hybrid routing protocol.
Zone-based Hierarchical Link State (ZHLS) Routing protocol
and ZRP (Zone Routing Protocol) are examples of hybrid
routing protocol.

In DyTDMA data can be relayed from one MAV to another
three hops away MAV. Routing plays an important role in
achieving fast and collision free transfer of information from
source to destination. For routing purpose a neighbourhood
table is maintained by each MAV of the network.
Neighborhood is defined by the MAV onboard Command
Control Receiver range. All MAVs within each others range
will list them in their neighborhood tables. These tables will be
refreshed regularly.

Time-out philosophy is used to remove dead network
members ID from neighborhood table. Some of the MAVs
may be silent without any transmissions in their allocated time
slots. But, they may still be present in the network. This is
discovered through the regular Im there message broadcasted
by the particular MAV. Rediscovery of a particular MAV is
also feasible which is built into the protocol.



VI. CONCLUSION

The Adhoc Networking protocol of DyTDMA algorithm is
successfully been implemented over wireless medium on FH
RF channels. Same algorithm can be utilized for networking
and tansmission of telemetry data and Video on multiplexed
channels between MAVs with some additional changes in
application programming interface (API) required by the
Control hardware to suit the specific Operating System (OS).
Additional security can be patched by way of using a
Crypto Algorithm for data packets transmitted in the
MAVnET. Thus security in terms of both TRANSEC and
COMSEC is provided, details of which is beyond the scope of
this topic.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We sincerely thank General Manager (SLRDC), Strategic
Electronics Research & Design Centre of Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited based at Hyderabad, INDIA for
encouraging the team and giving us an opportunity to
expose this technology of MAV networking to the
likeminded scientific community to get a glimpse of the
work carried out at our research laboratories. We derive
immense pleasure for presenting the same for the benefit of
our scientific community across the globe.




REFERENCES

[1] Pomalaza-Rez C.A., 1995, A Distributed Routing Algorithm
for Multi-hop Packet Radio Networks with Uni- and Bi-
Directional Links, IEEE Trans. Vehicular Technology, vol. 44,
pp. 579-585.
[2] Young C.D., 1999, USAP Multiple Access: Dynamic Resource
Allocation for Mobile Multihop Multichannel Wireless
Networking, Proceedings of the IEEE MILCOM 1999
Conference, Atlantic City, New Jersey, vol. 1, pp. 271-275.
[3] E.M. Royer, C-K. Toh, A Review of Current Routing Protocols
for Ad-Hoc Mobile Wireless Networks, IEEE Personal
Communications Magazine, April 1999, pp. 46-55.
[4] Kimaya Sanzgiri, Bridget Dahill, Brian Neil Levine, Clay
Shields, and Elizabeth Belding-Royer. A Secure Routing
Protocol for Ad hoc Networks. In Proceedings of the 10th IEEE
International Conference on Network Protocols (ICNP 02),
November 2002.
[5] C. E. Perkins (ed). Ad hoc Networking. Addison-Wesley. 2001.
ISBN 0-201-30976-9
[6] C-K Toh. Ad Hoc Mobile Wireless Networks, Protocols and
systems. Prentice Hall PTR. 2002. ISBN 0-13-007817-4.
[7] Akimitsu KANZAKI, Toshiaki UEMUKAI, Takahiro HARA,
Shojiro NISHIO, Dynamic TDMA Slot Assignment in Ad Hoc
Networks, IEEE Proceedings of the 17th International
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[8] TRW-2.4G 2.4GHz transceiver datasheet.

BIOGRAPHY


















































T.V.V Manikanta has done his Bachelors in
electronics & communication engineering
from Acharya Nagarjuna University, Andhra
Pradesh. Currently he is working as Design
Engineer at SLRDC, Communication
Department, HAL Hyderabad. He is
associated with Networking Group for
Software Defined Radio Project.
Abhinav Saxena done his Bachelors in
electronics & communication engineering
from Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki
Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal. Currently he is
working as Design Engineer at SLRDC,
Communication Department, HAL
Hyderabad. He is associated with
Networking Group for Software Defined
Radio Project.

Ranjan Mojumdar has done his Bachelors in
electronics engineering from Nagpur University
and Masters in electrical engineering from
University of Colorado, USA. Before joining
HAL he was working as a Lecturer in Vellore
Institute of Technology (VIT) University.
Currently he is working as Deputy Manager
(Design) at SLRDC, Communication
Department, HAL Hyderabad. He is associated
with Networking Group for Software Defined
Radio Project.
M.V. Sri Nagesh has done his Bachelors in
Electronics & Communication Engineering
from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
University, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh,
INDIA. Currently he is working as Deputy
General Manager (Design) at Strategic
Electronics Research & Design Centre,
Hindustan Aeronautics, Hyderabad, INDIA.
He is associated with design and
development of Software Defined Radios,
Data Links for UAVs & MAVs. His areas of
research are efficient routing algorithms for
Ad-hoc networking for Net-Centric
Operations and heads the RF & Networking
group at SLRDC.
D. Vinay Kumar has done his BTech in
electronics & communication engineering
from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),
Guwahati. Currently he is working as
Deputy Manager (Design) at SLRDC,
Communication Department, HAL
Hyderabad. He is associated with
Networking Group for Software Defined
Radio Project. His research areas include data
communication and cryptography.